


A Ghost Out of His Grave

by Demenior



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Ensemble Cast, Gen, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Shiro (Voltron) Has a Clone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27316285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demenior/pseuds/Demenior
Summary: The Atlas, along with Voltron, are working hard to help keep peace and order in the Universe post-war. While hunting down a band of renegade space pirates, they come across a shocking discovery: not all of Shiro's clones are dead. And they are not happy to see him.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Long, long ago I wanted to believe that some of Shiro's clones would have survived the destruction of the clone base, and, I wanted to know what they would make of themselves as they tried to find their own identity. This is what would happen /after/ that story, in which the clones decided to become space pirates. 
> 
> Posted for Wip-tober. This story is effectively complete.

Keith slips out of the air vent as quietly as he can. The hall is quiet. Allura drops down behind him, light on her toes. They’re wearing dark stealth suits, which are much slimmer than their bulky Paladin armor. With their masks on they’re practically unrecognizable as Paladins.

“Okay Pidge,” Keith whispers into his comms, “where to?”

“ _Go right, and then left. You should be able to hear it once you get close. And once you_ _’ve got the engines down, we can come in.”_

“Just remind Hunk not to ram the ship while we’re still on it,” Keith says, and cuts communication.

Keith takes lead, with Allura following. They stop at the corner, pausing to listen for movement, but can’t hear anything. Keith peeks. No one in sight. He waves Allura forwards, and they rush down to their next turn.

Once they blow the engines, then these pirates won’t be able to warp away. Team Voltron has been on their tail for months now, trying to stop them. After cleaning up most of the rogue Galra fleets, the Atlas and Voltron have turned to maintaining intergalactic peace. These pirates are next on the list.

They’ve just been so hard to catch up until now— their pilot is good enough that he can get them away before the Lions or Atlas can intercept, and they don’t leave any trace. Catching up to the ship like this has been a hassle, and Keith jumped at the opportunity to stall them. Shiro will appreciate the plan. When Keith tells him about it later.

It was a fast decision, Keith will admit, but his team is with him.

Mostly, they’re all excited about _space pirates_ and being able to capture them. On Keith’s tally of ‘coolest moments in my life’, fighting space pirates ranks really high.

Allura rounds the next corner, staying low with her bayard at the ready. Keith follows, checking their backs to make sure they haven’t been noticed yet.

They find their access to the engine room easily enough. There’s one crewman down here, working in a suit because of how hot the room is. Keith is drenched in sweat the instant he walks through the door. Allura and Keith duck out of sight, hiding in the machinery. The pirate hasn’t noticed them yet. He’s adjusting something with his right arm, which, Keith realizes after a moment, must be made of metal or something durable.

Keith motions for Allura to figure out how to stall the warp drive. She knows more about alien ships than he does. Keith will keep an eye on their enemy, and see if he can’t get the drop on him.

Allura moves on, and Keith starts to circle his mark. He falls back on the training Kolivan gave him, stepping lightly and using the sounds of the room to his advantage. Once he gets close enough, he can knock out the pirate before he even knows Keith’s there.

Unfortunately, Keith brought Allura with him. Who, other than Keith, is one of the least-subtle in tactics. And she chose that exact moment to rip out a large part of the warp drive with her bare hands. It makes a lot of noise.

The pirate jerks his head up, realizes in an instant that he’s under attack, and runs.

Keith catches him just as he hits his hand to a panel on the wall that must connect to the bridge.

“Run—” the pirate starts, and then Keith hits him hard enough to send him crashing to the ground.

Alarms start sounding on the ship. Lights are flashing. The whole ship knows they’re under attack.

“Allura!” Keith shouts, “we gotta go!”

“I’m almost done!” she shouts, hefting a piece of metal larger than Keith over her head.

Keith activates his knife and keeps it at the ready. They’re going to encounter hostiles, he can feel it.

“Pidge?” Keith calls, opening the comms again, “we need extraction. Now.”

“Uhh— about that—” Pidge starts, but then is cut off from another line.

“ _Where are you?_ ” Shiro demands.

Keith grimaces, “I don’t have time to talk right now.”

“ _Where are you?_ ” Shiro asks again.

Keith knows that Shiro knows _exactly_ where he is. Allura shouts that she’s ready, and she and Keith take off from the room at a sprint. They round the corner and come face-to-face with two more pirates, wearing full suits so they can’t see their faces. Their right arms are exposed— again, both metal or something solid. Keith files that away, but doesn’t have time to think any more on it.

“ _Keith?_ ” Shiro asks.

“I’m busy,” Keith says.

The two pirates rush them, switching from one side of the hall to the other. Allura summons her bayard and cracks her whip at them. Keith has seconds to watch the two of them narrowly avoid it, before one uses the wall as a springboard to launch himself in a direct attack on Keith. Keith brings up his sword as the pirate brings down his right hand. Metal collides with metal, and while Keith holds him off, the pirate swings his left arm and uppercuts Keith under the chin.

Keith, and his helmet, go flying. He hears Allura shout his name, and then, there’s a white-hot hand glowing in his face. Keith stays down.

He sees the pirate jerk, surprised, and then hears, “Aw shit. Six! Get her mask off.”

Keith can hear Allura grunting in discomfort as her helmet is removed.

The pirate pinning Keith down glances back to confirm his suspicions, “Wan,” he says, and he doesn’t sound like he’s talking to Keith or his partner anymore, “get down here. It’s Keith and Allura.”

* * *

The pirates keep Keith’s sword, and they’ve knocked Allura’s bayard aside. Keith could summon his, he knows they could fight their way out, but at the moment that’s too reckless. Keith’s never met people who fight so quickly and brutally— using their space to their advantage. And their arms! It’s kind of like Shiro, he realizes. Maybe there are more people with an arm like Shiro’s old one.

“How do you know my name?” Keith asks.

The pirates have been talking quietly between one another, but not letting up their guard.

“You’re famous?” one of them says. It’s a pretty shitty lie.

“Are you Galra?” Allura tries. That’s a good one— though Keith doesn’t think they are. They’re both tall, taller than Keith, but they’re still human-sized. Not tall or broad enough to be Galra.

“How did you get on board?” one asks, just as the other gasps and says,

“It was Pidge, wasn’t it? With the Green Lion?”

How do these strangers know about Pidge’s cloaking device? Is there a spy in their ranks? Keith doesn’t like this.

“If we put you in an escape pod, and launch you, the team is close enough to grab you, right?” one of the pirates asks. Allura and Keith stay silent.

“What about Shiro?” the other asks after a moment, “is… is he here too? Did he send you?”

There’s a note of fear there that Keith picks up on.

“Yeah,” Keith lies, “Shiro sent us to take you out.”

Both pirates flinch, and Keith watches their hands curl into fists. An odd response. They’re… resolved. And angry.

“That sounds like Shiro,” a new voice says, and Keith turns his head to watch as the pirate captain approaches.

Allura gasps loudly and Keith’s mouth falls open.

Approaching them, arms behind his back and his face set in a scowl, is Shiro.

* * *

Except it’s clearly _not_ Shiro. He’s got long dark hair, streaked with white, and tied back to keep it out of his face. There’s a scar over his left eye, a burn of some sort, and the skin melted enough that his eye is permanently narrowed like he’s offended by the world.

The last time Keith saw Shiro, Shiro had short hair that had gone gray from reanimation. The most prominent scar on his face was the one across his nose.

There’s no possible way this could be Shiro, except that it is.

Keith connects the dots in seconds.

“I think I know what Shiro would do,” the clone says.

“How are you alive?” Keith asks. He watched that entire station of clones fall out of the sky. He fell with them, was resolved to die with them. With Shiro.

“What are you doing on my ship?” the clone demands.

“They took out the engines,” one of the pirates says.

The clone’s face doesn’t move, “Did… what of my engineer?”

“Unconscious,” Keith assures him, “I’m not a killer.”

If this is one of Shiro’s clones, then Keith can reason with him. Keith and Shiro have a deep bond. The clone, even if he’s not real, must remember that.

“Unless it’s a batch of clones,” the clone says, “but then again, you and Shiro are here to finish the job, aren’t you?”

Keith’s stomach twists. Does the clone think Keith wanted to kill them all?

He doesn’t get a chance to answer, because the clone gives orders, “Five, Six: tie them up. We need to have leverage if Shiro’s coming for us.”

“Shiro— Shiro _is_ coming, but we don’t need to fight!” Keith insists.

“We didn’t know any clones had survived!” Allura adds.

“Don’t let them talk,” the clone says to his crew, and it’s the last thing Keith hears before he’s struck with a metal arm and drops into a heavy unconsciousness.

* * *

When Keith wakes up he’s been gagged and hog-tied. He can sense his luxite blade is nearby, but not on his person. He reaches for his bayard, but his hands have been tied together in a way that gives no room for the weapon to manifest.

He’s defenseless.

“Waiting to bargain with him only gives Shiro the time to attack us!” a voice says. That must be the clone, it sounds just like Shiro. But why is he arguing with his crew when he’s the leader?

“We can’t get away in time, and you know that without these two, the Paladins won’t hesitate to blow us out of the sky.”

That’s… that’s also Shio’s voice. Keith cracks an eye open. He’s been brought to another room— it might even be the bridge, so far as he can tell, and there’s people standing in front of him. One of them is the clone.

There’s an angry snarl on his left, and Keith can turn his head enough to confirm that Allura’s just waking up as well. She seems to be reaching the same conclusions as he does, that they’re bound and helpless, and she looks like she’s ready to hit every single pirate harder than they hit her.

The people standing over them shift, and then there’s a gun in Allura’s face.

“Try anything weird, and I’ll kill you,” the man says.

Allura’s face blends into some mix of rage and shock, and Keith strains his neck to look up.

It’s Shiro, again. A different clone. His hair is buzzed short everywhere, and he’s got scars that Shiro never had. They must be new, then.

A lot of things slot into place all at once. All of the crew have metal arms. They’re all humanoid.

This is an entire crew made up of surviving clones. Or at least, has multiple clones.

Allura makes an indignant grunt, and thrashes against her restraints.

“Shut up,” the new clone snaps.

“Hey,” Keith speaks up. He’s muffled by the gag, so it’s not even a word, but he wants that gun off of Allura right now.

The leader— with the burn on his face and the long hair— sets a hand on the short-haired clones shoulder to stop him from speaking. He kneels in front of them.

“I’d prefer not to kill you, so don’t force my hand,” he says.

Keith frowns. Shiro’s not a killer. Why would the clone threaten him like that?

The clone watches Keith’s expression, “Do you think because we’re his copies we care about you?”

Something has been wrong ever since the clones started talking. Keith can’t understand why they’re all acting so weird. Why do they seem so scared and so angry at the thought of Shiro?

The leader glares at Keith like a lion on the hunt, unblinking, “You had better hope Shiro negotiates, or I will feed you to the void before you can scream.”

* * *

The short-haired clone with the blaster stands guard over Keith and Allura. There’s another clone, Keith realizes, who must be their pilot. He’s at the front of the bridge and occasionally talks to the leader.

It’s a small enough ship that there aren’t many stations on the bridge, and only requires one, maybe two pilots. The leader is standing back enough that Keith assumes he’ll have the broadcast cameras aimed on him, which means Keith and Allura will be out of sight from where they’re tucked to the side. The leader and the other clones had a quick conversation about whether the leader should wear a helmet or not.

“Throw him off,” the one with the blaster says, “he won’t expect your face. Push him while he’s surprised, and make him agree.”

 _Agree to what?_ Keith wants to ask. But with his gag he’s unable to do anything. Keith chews at the material, hoping he can saw through it with his teeth, but he’s unsuccessful.

It takes forever, and no time at all, before the pilot clone announces, “We’re being hailed.”

“Answer,” the leader says, taking up his position.

The screen lights up in front of them— flickering for a moment— and it’s Shiro. Keith feels relieved to see his pale skin and white hair. That’s the real Shiro.

Shiro looks furious, and in seconds they all see his scowl change as he recognizes his own face looking back at him.

“How—” Shiro starts, but he’s cut off by the leader.

“Stop your ship right now or I’ll kill them both.”

Allura inhales sharply beside Keith, and sits up a little straighter. The intense clone taps her shoulder with the muzzle of his blaster, and she sinks down again with an angry growl.

Shiro glances off-screen, nodding in confirmation, “Stop the ship.”

He turns back to the screen, “Where are my Paladins?” he demands.

“Alive,” the leader says, “and they’ll stay that way as long as you follow my orders.”

“You don’t need to take them hostage,” Shiro insists, “how are you even alive? Do you know who—”

“Of course I know who you are,” the leader snarls, “you’re the one who tried to kill all of us.”

Keith breathes deep to keep himself steady. If that’s what the clones think of Shiro, then it’s no wonder they’re all terrified.

Shiro seems taken aback by the aggression as well, “That’s not true.” And then Shiro’s eyebrows go up, “wait, did you say _us_? Are there more of you?”

“Enough questions,” the leader says, “I have demands.”

Shiro looks like he wants to ask more, but he steels himself.

“Your Paladins incapacitated my ship. Hurt my engineer. I need someone to fix that damage. Keith and Allura will be your hands while someone on your end walks them through repairs. If yours, or any other ship, comes closer without my permission, I will kill them.”

Shiro’s lips twitch on the screen like he wants to snarl.

“When my ship is functional, we will leave. Once we are out of range, I will leave your Paladins in a safe location to contact you for retrieval. Until then: if we detect anyone or anything following us, I will kill them.”

“I don’t know why you hate me—” Shiro starts.

“That’s off topic,” the leader snaps, “do we have a deal?”

“I never tried to kill you! I didn’t even know you were here,” Shiro insists. Keith wonders why Shiro’s arguing so much. When people are being short and tough with him, he starts doing the same. This seems out of character.

“Do we have a deal?” the leader asks.

“I need to see them,” Shiro says, “Keith and Allura. Let me talk to them.”

* * *

The clone leader grits his teeth in a snarl, and then turns to the clone with the gun guarding Keith and Allura.

“On your feet. No funny business,” the clone with the gun growls, and yanks Keith up by the shoulder. He shoves Keith forwards— it’s a short few steps to stand beside the leader, but he doesn’t let Allura get up. Keith doesn’t like them being separated.

“Walk,” the gunman orders, and points his blaster at Allura. She’s looking right at Keith. Keith bares his teeth in a snarl, hard to see with the gag in his mouth, and obeys. He looks up to the large display screen to see Shiro’s expression change at the sight of Keith’s face.

“Keith!” Shiro says, “are you okay?”

The leader stands close to him, but otherwise doesn’t touch Keith. Or remove Keith’s gag.

Keith nods, considering he can’t talk.

“He’s unharmed. And will stay that way. Do you have Pidge or Hunk with you? Put them on the line,” the leader demands.

“Let Keith speak for himself,” Shiro says.

“No,” the clone replies.

A few things happen at once— Keith spots movement in the corner of his eye just in time to see Pidge’s bayard arc out of the air vent above Allura and the one clone, grabbing the blaster from his hands and neatly slicing it in half. At the same time, the two doors to the bridge explode inward, and in pours Lance, Hunk and Coran, along with several other Atlas personnel, all in full armor and with blasters ready.

“Put your weapons down!” Lance shouts, taking point as he moves into the room. The pilot, Keith can see, puts his hands up.

Shiro was stalling them, Keith realizes. That’s why he’s been so chatty.

The leader grabs Keith and an instant later there’s a white hot hand hovering over Keith’s throat.

“I won’t hesitate!” the leader snarls, “call them off Shiro!”

“You’re outnumbered,” Shiro says, “let him go! There will be no casualties today.”

The leader snarls, a guttural animal sound, “Get the fuck off my ship or I’ll kill every last one of—”

A new sound. Sharp, high and loud. It cuts through everything in the room.

Crying.

There’s a baby crying.

“Wan!” a voice calls. Keith’s heart hammers in his chest. That’s a kid. That’s a _kid_ _’s_ voice. What is a kid and a baby doing with a bunch of killer clones?

Everyone on the bridge freezes. Keith can hear the hum of the leader’s activated hand, and he’s starting to sweat where the hand is close to his throat.

From one of the doors that’s been blown in, cleared of soldiers because they’re all in the room, comes a boy, and he’s carrying a crying baby. They’re both human, with dark hair and pale skin.

“Bae won’t stop crying and—” the boy says, and then freezes when he sees all of the people in the room.

“Shorty get out!” the leader says.

“Shiro? There’s kids here!” Hunk says. They hear the echo of that through the open link still showing Shiro’s shocked face.

Shiro is glancing between Keith and the kids.

“We don’t want to fight,” Shiro says again, “surrender peacefully and no one will get hurt!”

The baby keeps crying.

The leader is paying more attention to the kids than to Keith. Allura and the rest of the Paladins are within range. Lance catches Keith’s gaze, and quietly shifts the aim of his bayard. Keith steels his nerves, and drops himself. There’s a flash, and Lance’s shot hits the clone leader dead in the chest and sends him flying backwards. He hits the wall behind him and slumps to the ground, stunned. 

“Wan!” the kid screams. The other clones panic and start shouting.

“It’s over,” Shiro orders, silencing everyone “stand down!”


	2. Chapter 2

Shiro’s flanked by no less than a dozen officers, blasters drawn, as he marches into the hangar they pulled the damaged pirate ship into. He’s been fielding all sorts of questions— namely: why is there _another_ Shiro?— but there hasn’t been any time to explain anything. Shiro had been hoping that he’d never have to remember the horrible station filled with pods, of the battle that happened there or the clone’s realization that he was not himself, he was just one of many. And _disposable_.

Shiro thought all of the clones had died in the fall. Obviously he was wrong. One had survived.

Keith and Allura are okay, they’re standing with the group watching over the clones.

Wait.

_Clones?_

Shiro almost stops short at the sight of all of them. It wasn’t just the one. The clones are all in cuffs, which thankfully neutralizes their right arms. There’s so many that it almost makes him dizzy for a moment. He’s staring into his own face again and again and again. At once all the clones spot him and freeze, staring at Shiro with a wide-eyed terror he’s never seen on himself before.

Shiro shakes off his stupor, “Is anyone hurt?”

“Just our pride,” Allura confirms sourly.

“We’ll be talking later,” Shiro orders to Keith and Allura. They’d both explicitly ignored his orders to stay with the Atlas and to _not_ do anything stupid. Also, they hadn’t even make a plan for backup. It was only because Hunk had forgotten that Shiro wasn’t in the loop that Shiro found out where they were at all. And if he hadn’t been there?

He doesn’t want to think about what might have happened.

Blasters come up as the leader clone steps forwards. He’s hunching his shoulders and not standing completely straight, still recovering from the stun shot to the chest, but he’s staring Shiro down like he’s ready to fight. Shiro’s never seen someone look at him with such rage.

“Nothing to worry about,” Lance confirms, standing with the other soldiers keeping the clones under watch.

“I have some questions,” Shiro tells the clone leader.

“I have nothing to say to you,” the leader spits.

That won’t get them anywhere. And having them all under armed guard isn’t going to help either.

“Take them to holding,” Shiro decides. He’ll have to try again later, when everyone has calmed down more.

* * *

“Takashi,” Sam says hesitantly. It’s more of a question than a statement, but Shiro doesn’t look like he wants to answer it.

The Atlas Command Crew, the MFE Pilots and the Paladins of Voltron have gathered in the hall near the holding cells. Many other curious, intrusive crew members have just-so-happened to find their way to the halls as well, after hearing about the captured pirate crew that just-so-happen to all be spitting images of their Captain.

Kolivan and Krolia easily move through the crowd, with all of the humans jumping out of the way of the two large aliens.

“Perhaps this is best discussed away from the masses,” Kolivan comments.

“Perhaps this is best discussed by people who didn’t go charging into danger without backup,” Griffin comments to Keith.

Keith curls his lips to respond, but Krolia lays a heavy hand on his shoulder. He stills immediately.

There’s the observation room, beside the holding area where they’ve put the clones. It features a one-way window that allows them to see in, but not for the clones to see out. No one questions why Shiro hasn’t prompted them to go in yet.

Veronica leads the way, opening the door for her Captain. She tries to smile for him, but he doesn’t look at her as he stalks inside. Everyone else quickly follows. It’s a lot of people, possibly too many people, but no one is willing to miss out on any information they can get until they’re officially dismissed.

The clones are scattered throughout the room. They’re quiet, subdued, but not tame by any means. The leader is talking quietly with the short-haired clone that had been holding Keith and Allura captive. They’re keeping their faces down so no one can read their lips.

“What have you got?” Shiro asks Allura. Her face is swollen from the fight with the clones earlier. It’s rare to see her in such a state.

“No trace of the Galra, or Haggar,” Allura says, “and I searched everything I learned from, well…”

She trails off awkwardly and everyone who wasn’t part of the Castleship crew during Shiro’s attack takes a moment to be confused.

“So they’re clean?” Shiro asks.

The engineer of the ship, who Keith and Allura had ambushed, has regained consciousness. He kept his hair cut short like the militant one, but had also grown out a short beard. The other two who had fought Keith and Allura had kept Shiro’s Garrison-standard undercut, though one of them also had a beard.

“I need to do a secondary check,” Pidge says, “since the Galra used your— um, the arm to implant the virus. So I have to scan them.”

“Why haven’t you done that?” Shiro asks.

Pidge grimaces, “I need to connect to their arms to do that.”

The pilot of the ship was a clone, as Keith correctly guessed. What Keith hadn’t guessed was that he was paralyzed from the waist down. Between him and another clone— this one with the sides of his head shaved, and the rest of his hair grown out and tied back in a bun— they were keeping the three young humans guarded between them.

“If it’s the arms you need to check, does that mean we can clear the children?” Iverson asks, “I don’t like kids being locked in there.”

Sam and Krolia nod in quiet agreement. 

“Probably not,” Lance cut in.

“They threw a riot when we said we wanted to put the kids somewhere else,” Hunk adds.

“Why do they look like you?” Leifsdottir cuts in.

Shiro’s shoulders get even tighter, and the Paladins all take a small step closer to him. When Shiro is silent a moment too long, thinking heavy on his words, Keith takes it upon himself to answer for him.

“The Galra—” he’s cut off when Shiro talks over him.

“They’re clones. Of me,” Shiro spits out, “Haggar, I mean, Honerva, made clones of me after my success in the Gladiator fights. We thought they’d all been destroyed.”

“Clones?” Curtis scoffs, as if this is impossible.

“We live on a spaceship,” Veronica reminds him.

“Do we have to worry about, um,” Sam seems surprised that he even has to say it, “brainwashing? Or anything the Galra Empire might still be throwing at us?”

Shiro shakes his head, “If Allura didn’t detect any of Haggar’s magic in them, then we’re on to a good start. Sam, can you and Pidge run a scan on the group?”

“We need access to their arms,” Pidge says, “but like, without them trying to kill us or fry us with them.”

Shiro nods, and pinches the bridge of his nose for a moment, “Okay. Okay. We get their leader to cooperate, and the rest will follow.”

“What is the intention?” Kolivan wonders, “we pursued them as criminals. Are we arresting them?”

“I don’t—” Shiro cuts himself off.

“In theory we should turn them over to the Alliance,” Krolia says, “that is what the law dictates.”

“But they’re clones,” Coran points out, “they are— or, were, I suppose— Empire weapons. You know what the Alliance will do to them!”

All of the humans in the room are curious now. While they’d been heavily involved in the creation of the Universal Alliance, and even had representatives from Earth on the Sennate, much of the galactic law and policies was still new to them.

“Clones are, err, well… they’re products. They’re classified as what they were intended for,” Coran explains.

“By your own admission, these clones were made as weapons,” Kolivan explains to Shiro.

“And Empire weapons are all to be dismantled and destroyed,” Shiro realizes.

“But they’re alive!” Hunk shouts, and gestures to the room of clones beside them.

“I’m not saying they’re not,” Coran splutters, “but that’s just— that’s the law!”

“No one reports this without my approval,” Shiro orders. His words cut off the budding argument, “I’ll speak with their leader, one on one, and I’ll get him to make his crew agree to the scanning of their arms.”

“And then?” Iverson asks.

Shiro tightens his jaw, the only sign he gives that he’s nervous, “We’ll start there. If they refuse to cooperate, there’s nothing we can do for them anyways.”

* * *

The clones are all on high alert the second the door opens. They instinctively form lines between Shiro, Lance and Veronica, and the paralyzed clone with the kids at the opposite end of the room. Lance and Veronica both have their blasters out and ready, but are currently keeping them pointed at the floor.

Shiro’s trying to go for a non-aggressive approach.

“We need to talk,” Shiro tells the leader, and there’s enough silence that passes that he feels he has to clarify, “alone.”

“No!” the short-haired clone snarls.

The leader cuts him off with a quick glance. He narrows his eye on Shiro again, “I don’t have much choice, do I?”

“No,” Shiro agrees.

“You lay one hand on him…” the short-haired clone growls.

“Four,” the leader says, “priorities.”

“Wan!” he objects.

“Nobody’s getting hurt,” Shiro says, trying to calm some of the tension, “I have a few questions. That’s all.”

The leader nods, and he’s completely stonefaced when he turns to the rest of his clone crew.

“I’ll be back,” he says.

Shiro wonders if he thinks he’s lying, for the sake of his crew. That’s what Shiro would be doing if he was being separated by what he thought was a hostile force. He’d be putting on a brave face.

The clone is wearing handcuffs— all of them are— but it wouldn’t be too hard for him to activate his prosthetic and cut through the cuffs, so they’re effectively useless and just for show.

They guide the leader into another small room. It’s intended for briefings and interviews, so there’s a small table in the center of the room and a few chairs around the edges. It’s windowless, which is probably the most privacy they’re going to have right now.

Shiro takes a seat and gestures for the clone to do the same. Lance and Veronica keep their guns pointed low, but don’t holster them.

“Alright,” the leader says, weary, “my crew was following my orders. They’re innocent in this, don’t hurt them.”

“I’m not hurting anyone,” Shiro assures him.

“There’s children,” the leader says slowly, pointedly, “at least let _them_ live.”

“Why do you think I want to kill you?” Shiro demands.

“Why wouldn’t I?” the leader shouts. He moves forwards in his seat, and instantly both Lance and Veronica have their fingers on the trigger, blasters up and ready to fire.

They aren’t going to get anywhere like this.

“Stand down,” Shiro orders, and when the siblings hesitate a moment he has to say again, louder, “stand down!”

And as soon as they lower their blasters, Shiro gives one more order, “Leave us alone.”

“No,” Lance says, at the same time Veronica says, “Are you stupid?”

Shiro takes his eyes off of the clone to glare at the two of them.

“As your Captain I’m giving you an order,” Shiro says firmly, and he looks back to the clone, “we’re just going to talk.”

“You have my crew,” the leader relents, “I’ll listen.”

* * *

“So,” Shiro begins, breaking the silence. It’s been a few minutes since Lance and Veronica left. He and the clone leader have done nothing but stare at each other. Shiro feels like he must be looking into a funhouse mirror. His brain feels like a record scratching every time it tries to establish that ‘this is my face’. It helps a bit that the clone has the huge burn covering most of one side. It makes him look less like Shiro. The burn goes up into his hairline, and his hair has grown back patchy there. He wears his hair long so that it falls over the burns, helping to obscure them.

“So?” the clone echoes.

“What should I call you?” Shiro asks.

“Shiro,” the clone says.

Shiro waits a moment for him to say more. He doesn’t.

“You know you’re not me,” Shiro says, “you know that you’re a clone. You know that you’re _all_ clones, of me.”

The clones eye narrows, and his lip twitches like he wants to say something. He stays silent.

Shiro breathes slowly.

“How many of you are there?” Shiro asks.

“Why do you want to know?” the clone asks.

“No one should have survived that fall,” Shiro says, “not without a ship. The Black Lion saved Keith and I—”

“You’re not as good a killer as you think you are,” the clone hisses, “besides. You should know better than anyone: Haggar cloned you because you’re a survivor. So are we.”

Shiro groans, grits his teeth.

“I _didn_ _’t_ kill the other clones,” he insists, “Haggar’s brainwashing— she was in my head, and at the time all I was focused on was completing her orders.”

“Just following orders,” the clone mocks, “who cares about the collateral?”

“You’re not collateral,” Shiro says on reflex.

“Just prisoners,” the clone says.

“Yes,” Shiro agrees. The agreement surprises the clone, as if he’d been hoping Shiro would argue that. He sits back in his chair, watching Shiro carefully.

“What can I call you?” Shiro tries again.

“You can call me One,” the clone says.

“How is that a name?” Shiro asks.

“At least it’s not _your_ name,” the clone retorts.

“I thought they were calling you Wan?” Shiro says, and as he says it out loud he realizes what must have happened. Like the velveteen rabbit becoming real. The title, an identifier, became a name. One, over time, became Wan.

“Are you all numbered?” Shiro asks before the clone can speak, “those are your names?”

Even though he’d been asking for a name, it still strikes him as novel that the clones would have their own names. It makes sense. It would be weird having an entire crew of people with the same name. But even still, Shiro had been expecting them all to be using his name as their own.

“It’s the order in which we became a crew,” One confirms.

“So you were the first to wake up. After the fall?” Shiro guesses, “that’s why you’re in charge?”

One snorts, “I’m in charge because I’m best suited for it. I protect my kind.”

He says it pointedly, like Shiro should feel guilty about whatever One is implying. Shiro assumes One is implying the hand he had in the destruction of the cloning facility. Shiro decides to wait. He watches One carefully, just as One does the same. Shiro’s trying to understand him, to try and figure out what his game is. What do the clones want?

He wonders what One is trying to learn about him.

“You haven’t killed us yet,” One finally says, “what do you want?”

Shiro debates how he would want to be convinced of something. What’s the best way to get through to the clone? Threats? Compromise? Deceit?

Shiro knows he’s never been good at lying. And that he’ll challenge most threats. He also knows that threatening the crew will force One to comply, but ensure that One will never trust them.

“I need you and your crew to submit to scans of your prosthetics,” Shiro says honestly.

One’s shoulders tighten, “And give you access to our nervous system? No.”

“If you don’t then I have to turn you over to the Alliance,” Shiro says bluntly.

One’s lips draw back in a snarl, “You wouldn’t.”

“As part of the Accords, all Galra weapons are to be surrendered to the Alliance to be destroyed,” Shiro reminds One, “and you were created as soldiers. You’ll be considered weapons as well.”

“So you can see why I need my engines repaired,” One says, “let us go and we all forget that this ever happened.”

So One knows about how the universe considers clones. Shiro wonders where he learned that. Why did he know something Shiro doesn’t?

“We’ve been chasing you for some time,” Shiro says, and he folds his fingers together on the tabletop, “you’ve been attacking and looting supply ships and various ports. You were hard to find because the reports always said the crew wore masks to hide their identity. We couldn’t even be sure you were human.”

“Makes it too easy if you’re looking for a ship of clones,” One shrugs, “I feel like you should appreciate our discretion.”

“You drew too much attention,” Shiro says harshly, “you became a priority to the Alliance.”

“We don’t have to be if you let us go,” One insists, “report that you shot us down. That we escaped. I don’t care.”

“I can’t do that,” Shiro says.

“So you’re finishing the job,” One states bluntly. ‘ _Of killing us_ _’_ goes unsaid.

“I don’t want to,” Shiro keeps his hands locked together, rather than balling them into fists.

“But you’re going to,” One slumps back, dejected. He bares his teeth as he lets out a frustrated hiss and then leans forwards, desperate, “for fucks sake Shiro there are _kids_!”

“I don’t want anyone to get killed,” Shiro says, “that’s what I’m trying to avoid! But I need to know that Haggar didn’t leave any unexpected programming in your arms. Get your crew to agree to the scans, and we go from there.”

“To what outcome?” One asks.

Shiro shakes his head, “I don’t know,” he admits, “I can’t let you go. But I don’t want you killed for just existing.”

“You could let us go,” One grumbles, “but I get it. You have to make sure they know you’re on their side.”

“I’m not against you,” Shiro sighs, “I’m trying to help.”

“Funny way of going about it,” One scoffs, and he grinds his teeth together as he thinks, “fine. We’ll do the scan. After you get food for my crew. They’ll be hungry.”

“You’re not in a position to be making demands,” Shiro reminds him.

“And you want my trust,” One retorts, “so earn it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because we didn't get to everyone's introductions:
> 
> Pirate Ship of Shiro Clones- they go by numbers, in order of when they joined the crew. Some names have been given "flair". Shiro (and by extension, his clones, are NOT creative when it comes to names akjdfsdjkfjh)
> 
> Wan (One)- Long hair. Burn scar over left eye (think Zuko from AtlA). Cold, hard, intense. Full leader and do not question his authority. Protective of his crew above all else.   
> Twoonie- The pilot. Doesn’t want to fight anymore. Legs badly damaged in the base destruction. Can’t walk without assistance. Loyal to One forever when One carried Two from wreckage and until they found a ship. Maintains undercut.  
> Thirds- Engineer. Does the necessary work to keep them afloat. Grows beard and keeps hair short.  
> Four- Short military cut. The Enforcer. Strike first, ask questions later. Closest to Champion of all the clones. Uses his violence to protect his family.   
> Fivers- Working crew, usually found with Six. Hotshot looks.  
> Sixish- Working crew, usually found with Five. Hotshot looks with scruffy beard.  
> Sevs- Looks after the littles. Manbun with undercut look. Manages to cook edible meals.
> 
> Baby Shiro Clones aka THE RUGRATS
> 
> (The baby clones were found on another base. They don’t have Shiro’s memories and were the start of a new batch that was going to be grown fast rather than grown at-adult size. No one knows what their projected lifespan is, or what they might be capable of.)
> 
> Shorty (Short Round)- 7yo  
> Hobbit- 5yo  
> Baby (Bae)- 3yo
> 
> Thanks for reading!!!


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